The University of Denver women’s tennis team secured a 4-2 victory over the University of Colorado in a match held at Denver Tennis Park on Sunday. The Pioneers came from behind after losing the doubles point, with freshman Yunfei Cai clinching the win for Denver at the No. 6 singles position.
In doubles play, both teams split the top two matches with identical 6-2 scores. Denver’s top pair, seniors Hana Bečirovič Novak and Marley Lambert, earned their win by breaking serve to lead 3-2 and then winning five consecutive games. The decisive third doubles match went to Colorado after Alexin and van der Werff broke serve in the 11th game and held on a deuce point.
Denver responded strongly in singles competition. Senior Louise Wikander, ranked No. 79 nationally, delivered DU’s first point by winning her match in straight sets at No. 1 singles. She overcame an early deficit in the second set against CU’s Aya El Sayed to close out the match.
Colorado regained the lead with a straight-set win at No. 3 singles, but DU sophomore Natálie Cinková tied the score again after taking two sets at No. 4 singles. Cinková managed key breaks late in both sets to secure her victory.
Bečirovič Novak gave Denver its first overall lead of the day with a two-set win at No. 5 singles, overcoming an early break by CU’s Lera Alexin and finishing strong in both sets.
With two matches remaining, attention turned to freshman Yunfei Cai at No. 6 singles. After dropping a close first set tiebreak to CU’s Lani Brotman, Cai won an early break in each of the next two sets and ultimately clinched DU’s fourth point when she broke Brotman’s serve for the final time.
The only unfinished contest was Lambert’s No. 2 singles match against Rixt van der Werff, which was left incomplete after each player had won one set via tiebreak and van der Werff led 2-1 in the third when Cai sealed Denver’s team victory.
Denver will continue its home stand with upcoming matches against Air Force on Friday, February 6, and Colorado State on Saturday, February 7, both hosted at Denver Tennis Park.
For more information about all University of Denver NCAA Division I sports programs, visit https://denverpioneers.com/.
